Transcript Should the Media Boycott Terrorists?

Raphael
Cohen-Almagor
The Terrorists’ Best Ally:
Media Coverage of Terror
February 2005
1
media
terrorists
government
2
The media: Victim or willing party &
promoter?
“We took great interest in the press. We
always immediately looked how the
newspapers, especially in Berlin,
reacted to our actions, and how they
explained them, and thereupon we
defined our strategy.”
~ Bommi Bauman
3
Media is a theatre,
or is it?
4
Terrorism is not a theater
Terrorism concerns real people, with concrete •
fears, who wish to go on with their lives without
being coerced into becoming victims.
03:30 18/07/2015
5
Insightful Cases
Patty Hearst’s kidnapping•
Jurgen Schumann’s murder•
Mogadishu•
"The Mahealdin Al-Naser •
Martyr Group“
03:30 18/07/2015
6
Insightful Cases –
Contd.
Unabomber Manifesto
Hijacking of TWA 847
Hanafi Muslim takeover
IRA - Carrickmore
03:30 18/07/2015
•
•
•
•
7
Endangering Life
•
Careless reporting and behaviour
might result in death of victims and
bystanders
8
Endangering Life-Hearst
•
Patty Hearst’s Kidnapping (February 4,
1974)
•
Marilyn Baker’s obsession with the
Symbionese Liberation Army.
9
Endangering LifeSchumann
•
Jurgen Schumann’s murder on October
16, 1977
•
The media broadcast the information
he had transmitted via the plane’s
radio.
10
Endangering Life: Gordus
v. Yavin
•
October 18, 1977 a Lufthansa
aeroplane was hijacked to Mogadishu
•
German anti-terror unit is about to
storm the plane
•
Michael Gordus v. Haim Yavin
11
Endangering Life: Iranian Embassy,
London
•
Take over of the Embassy on April 30,
1980
•
six terrorists, members of Arabistan
anti-Khomeini movement "The
Mahealdin Al-Naser Martyr Group“
held 26 people as hostages,
demanding the release of 91 ethnic
Arab militants being held in Iran
12
Endangering Life: Iranian
Embassy, London
•
"See what happens when I release
hostages"
13
•
Endangering Life: Hanafi
takeover
During the Muslim takeover of three
buildings (B'nai Brith national
quarters, the city Islamic Center, and
the District Building) at the heart of
Washington D.C. on March 10, 1977,
Robert A. Dobkin of The Associated
Press asked Khaalis if he had set a
deadline, when none had been stated
earlier.
14
Unabomber
•
•
Killed 3, injured 23
•
Janet Reno, others
asked the papers to
publish it
June ‘95 demanded NYT and
WP publish
manifesto
15
Arguments for Publication
•
Unabomber had credible record of
violence - ‘clear and present danger’
•
public safety reasons: Unabomber
promised to refrain from any further
bombings
•
Could lead to capture
16
Arguments Against Publication
•
“I don’t know what they have gained
by printing the manifesto, but I do
know what they lost: They lost
principle.”
•
Establishes a precedent
17
David Kaczynski
03:30 18/07/2015
18
Hindering Government Activities:
Bryan & SLA
John Bryan, publisher of a small •
newspaper called The Phoenix, printed a
long, rambling letter he claimed was
written by the SLA as an answer to his
request to contact him. This was a hoax.
03:30 18/07/2015
19
Hindering Government Activities:
TWA 847
The hijacking of the plane to Beirut on •
June 14-30, 1985. The United States
turned to the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) in the first 24 hours
after the hijacking to arrange a swap for
the passengers and the prisoners.
03:30 18/07/2015
20
Hindering Government Activities:
TWA 847
Because of published and broadcast •
reports that the U.S. army had dispatched
its Delta force antiterrorist squad to the
Middle East, the terrorists fled Algeria and
soon landed in Beirut, where it was far
more difficult for the Americans to carry
out a rescue operation
03:30 18/07/2015
21
London Times reported (June 17,
1985):
“The U.S. has reportedly sent a •
commando unit to the Mediterranean
ready to storm the hijacked plane if
necessary… The unit is said to be part of
a crack anti-terrorist squad of several
hundred men… The commandos, known
as the Delta Unit, may have been sent to
the aircraft carrier Enterprise which is
currently in the western Mediterranean.”
03:30 18/07/2015
22
Similar reckless reports were made by the •
NY Times and the Los Angeles Times
03:30 18/07/2015
23
Glorifying Terrorists: SLA
•
Portraying the Symbionese Liberation
Army as Robin Hood caring for the
poor.
24
Glorifying Terrorists:
TWA 847
The media as Mouthpiece of terrorists
•
ABC - “Amal Broadcasting
Corporation”
•
NBC - “Nabih Berri Corporation.”
25
Sensational Coverage: Israel
Between April 1993 and February 2004 
there were 152 suicide attacks.
They resulted in 631 people killed and 
4107 people injured.
03:30 18/07/2015
26
Sensational Coverage-Contd.
Dedicating 20 of 25 pages of news to 
yesterday’s attack.
live pictures from the scene, when 
reporters only rehash what they said some
minutes earlier and perhaps, in
desperation, might relay the latest
unchecked rumor
03:30 18/07/2015
27
Sensational Coverage: September
11, 2001
Media that exploited the suffering of the 
people trapped and soon died inside the
struck towers, playing again and again the
emotional mayhem of people who were
trying to cope amidst overwhelming
horror, disbelief, fear and terror.
03:30 18/07/2015
28
Irresponsible
Terminology
•
•
SLA – 12 people are not an “army”
their "operations" in the name of
protecting the rights of "the people"
29
Irresponsible
Terminology
•
People who kidnap and murder
randomly whomever happens to be in
the wrong place are not "students" or
"saints" or "soldiers" or "freedom
fighters,“ even if they portray
themselves in such way.
30
Payment for Terrorists’ Interviews
TWA 847 - Allegations that ABC paid Berri for •
interviews.
ABC denied that this allegation. •
03:30 18/07/2015
31
Irresponsible Mediation
•
TWA847 - ABC’s David Hartman took
upon himself the role of a mediator
when he concluded a live interview
with a spokesman for the Amal militia
by asking:
•
“Mr. Berri, any final words to
President Reagan this morning?”
32
Irresponsible Mediation
•
The networks were also interviewing
the hostages as if they were official
U.S. emissaries perfectly free of
coercion to speak their minds, serving
the terrorists' interests in pressurizing
the government.
33
Dangerous Speculations
During the Hanafi Muslim takeover 
one reporter speculated that boxes
of ammunition were taken into the
building in preparation for a police
assault when, in fact, they were
boxes of food for the hostages.
03:30 18/07/2015
34
Dangerous Speculations
One radio reporter prompted Khaalis 
to mark ten hostages for execution
after suggesting to the Hanafi leader
that the police were trying to trick
him.
03:30 18/07/2015
35
Lack of Homework
•
Khaalis was outraged when a
misinformed reporter, Jim Bohannon
of WTOP radio, called him “Black
Muslim”
36
Live Interviews during Crisis
Interviews are a direct reward for the 
specific act of terrorism underway,
and can interfere with efforts to
resolve the crisis.
Such interviews all too often increase 
the spectacle of the event, spread
fear, impede the negotiations
between terrorists and authorities,
and provide a contrived platform for
the terrorists’ views.
03:30 18/07/2015
37
Live Interviews during Crisis
Khaalis gave so many interviews that the 
lines were jammed and the authorities
found it difficult to reach him.
03:30 18/07/2015
38
Live Interviews during Crisis:
TWA 847, interview with John
Testrake
03:30 18/07/2015
39
Live Coverage
•
Photo of a dead man sitting inside the
blasted No. 5 bus on Dizengoff Street
in Tel Aviv (October 19, 1994).
•
Family consideration
40
Live Coverage: Iranian
Embassy, London
•
BBC and ITN, went live from the scene
only after SAS had stormed the
building and rescued the hostages.
41
Staging Events
During the Palestinian Intifada of 1987-1993, •
foreign reporters offered Palestinians money to
initiate violence against Israeli forces: the tariff
was $50 for stone-throwing; $100 for Molotov
cocktails
03:30 18/07/2015
42
Carrickmore, 1979
•
BBC doing a piece on the
Provisional IRA
•
Received anonymous
telephone call something interesting in
Carrickmore
•
Hooded men, stopping
cars
43
Staging Events:
Carrickmore
44
Conclusions
This study shows the need for
developing a set of guidelines for the
media when covering terrorism. The
guidelines should include the
following:
03:30 18/07/2015
45
Guidelines
•
The media need to be accountable for
the consequences of their coverage.
•
The media should never jeopardize
human life.
46
Guidelines
The media are advised to cooperate
with the government when human
lives are at stake in order to bring a
peaceful end to the terrorist episode.
The media should not glorify acts of
terror.
03:30 18/07/2015


47
Guidelines
•
The media should refrain from
sensational and panicky headlines,
from inflammatory catchwords, and
from needless repletion of photos
from bloody scenes, compromising
quality of reporting and replacing it
with quantity.
48
Guidelines
Terrorism should be explicitly condemned
for its brutality and violent, indiscriminate
nature.
The media must not pay for covering
terrorist incidents.
03:30 18/07/2015
49
Guidelines
The media should not take upon themselves to
mediate between the terrorists and the
government. Special qualifications are required
before one assumes such a responsibility upon
oneself. Journalists are there to cover the event,
not to become part of it.
The media are expected to refrain from making
dangerous speculations about the terrorists' plans,
government response, hostages' messages and
other concerns. Speculations might hinder crisis
management.
03:30 18/07/2015


50
Guidelines
Media professionals are required to have 
background information about the
terrorists they cover. They should prepare
homework prior coverage.
The media are advised not to broadcast 
live terrorist incidents. This is not to say
that the media should not cover such
incidents. Rather, there should be a delay
of a few minutes during which an
experienced editor inspects the coverage
and authorizes what should be on air and
what should not.
03:30 18/07/2015
51
Guidelines
• The media are advised not to interview
terrorists while the incident is still in
motion. Lines of communications between
the authorities and the terrorists should be
left open. The media should not impede
the negotiations process.
• The media are advised not to cooperate
with terrorists who stage events.
52
Guidelines
The media are required to show
sensitivity to the victims and to their
loved ones. This critical guideline
should be observed during terrorist
incidents and, no less importantly,
also after their conclusion.
The media are expected not to report
details that might harm victims’
families.
03:30 18/07/2015


53
Guidelines
•
The area in which the terrorist
incident takes place better not be
open for anybody who testifies that
he or she is a journalist. Only senior
and experienced reporters should be
allowed in.
54
Thank you